Teen pleads in firearms, assault case

A Jacksonville woman whose trial was to begin this morning has pleaded to two firearms charges in the wake of her co-defendant's conviction on similar charges last Thursday.

A jury of five women and one man was selected Jan. 25 to hear the case against Andrea Lakisha Longstreet, 19, whose trial was to begin at 9 a.m.

Longstreet was charged with being a principal to attempted robbery with a firearm and being a principal to aggravated assault with a firearm.

Her co-defendant, Tiffany Tennile Rose, 28, was found guilty Thursday of attempted robbery with a firearm and aggravated assault with a firearm. She was sentenced the same day.

Because of the minimum mandatory terms for firearms charges, Rose will not be eligible for parole until 2029.

The Public Defender's Office, which represents Longstreet, notified her of the verdict.

She was brought from the St. Johns County jail Monday morning to appear before Circuit Judge Wendy W. Berger, who accepted her no contest plea to both charges.

She reportedly had little to say, other than answer the judge's questions.

At one point, Berger asked, "What were you thinking?" according to one observer.

Longstreet merely shrugged.

She will return to court for sentencing at 9 a.m. on March 11.

Rose and Longstreet were arrested July 24 after a woman who had been home alone on County Road 13 said they came to her front door and threatened her with a gun.

The prosecution said Longstreet was the one who rang the woman's doorbell. Rose then came from behind a bush, wearing a cap, sunglasses and a mask. She was pointing a silver handgun at the victim.

The woman screamed and ran to the nearby home of a neighbor, who called 911.

Rose and Longstreet were stopped 15 minutes later at International Golf Parkway and State Road 16.

A search of the car, which was owned by Longstreet, turned up a pry bar, rope, duct tape, two pair of gloves and two flashlights. A 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun was in the trunk. There were shotgun shells and a magazine for .380 handgun rounds.

But no mask and no gun were found.

Rose testified that the rope and duct tape were to be used when she and Longstreet packed boxes for an imminent move to Georgia.

Rose testified at her trial that she approached the house with Longstreet's cell phone in her hand, not a gun.

"I admit being there on her property," she tearfully told Berger during sentencing. "I did not come at her with any kind of gun."

The jury of five men and one woman took 60 minutes to reach a verdict.

Berger sentenced Rose to 15 years in prison on the attempted robbery charge. There's no gain time for the 10-year minimum mandatory that comes with it.

The judge also sentenced her to five years in prison for the aggravated assault conviction. That term has a three-year minimum mandatory.

Berger ordered the terms to run consecutively, which means Rose will have to serve 13 years before she starts earning credit for any time served. She will be eligible for parole in 2029.

The judge had recommended that sentencing be delayed so that Rose could bring someone to court to speak on her behalf.

The defendant - the mother of a 2-, 4- and 6-year-old - said there was no one to speak on her behalf.